Make it amazing.

A new name, brand identity and story for the merger of spatial software giants.

Team output

Brand strategy

Tagline

Value proposition

Naming

Logo

Design language

Web design

Web development

Product architecture

Guidelines

Vision film

Launch support

Personal contributions

Brand positioning

Naming

Verbal identity

Copywriting guidelines

Film script

Website copy

Situation.

Two brands become a $5bn business.

By merging, it means one entity can connect and own the whole journey of choosing, designing, selling, manufacturing and installing products for kitchens, bathrooms, windows, doors, furniture, flooring… anything that makes domestic and commercial spaces amazing.

With merger comes new brand. A totally new name and look. Careful rationalization of story and evolution of brand assets to roll everything into a new system. Loads of teams, customers, partners and investors to keep happy and on-side for the brand rollout.

Insight.

Examining the category revealed that pretty much every player focuses on function and feature rather than aesthetic and outcome. Given the expanse of the new brand and the size of the opportunity, it made sense to take a differentiatingly emotive positioning. This would shape messaging and visuals by centring on the customer and their success.

Interviews helped build the picture for which features and benefits of the various softwares resonated with customers, plus more on ambitions to grow and improve offerings. This help define priorities for what to express in the identity and messaging, including the name.

Strategy.

An everyday, easygoing phrase to capture the excitement and ambition of renovating spaces centred on the customer: Make it amazing.

With value proposition and tagline confirmed, the project underwent an intense and extensive naming journey (or mad squiggle) involving trademark lawyers, curveball-ready investors and cold feet. This thankfully ended in the collective courage to go full steam on a name suitably agonized over.

I not-so-humbly take credit for originating the more palatable variant spelling for the frontrunner name, and helping our team define its strategic benefits for stakeholders to gain confidence in it. This ultimately toppled the favourite and got accepted.

One key challenge for the brand was timeline: how to use the new name and identity while brushing old stuff under the carpet over time. I found a killer reference for how other mergers juggle old and new brands (key to winning the pitch), and we helped the client embrace a plan to switch up their website over a few defined stages: a launch site, a transitional site and a final site.

Creative.

I helped further rationalise and develop the value proposition and tagline with more supportive high-level messaging:

The verbal device of "bringing spaces to life" and "bringing life to spaces" as a way to group the involvement of players in the renovation value chain.
Mission/vision/purpose statements (all structured to end in the word "amazing").
Brand pillars inspired by "make it amazing" that reflect audience benefits, internal and external, throughout the renovation journey (create it, change it, connect it, and so on…)
Persona work to define the motivations, pain points and benefit preferences of players in the value chain.
Tone of voice guidance, including the origination of brand character Cyril to help writers hone voice correctly (which apparently "captured the imagination of the client").
Brand guidelines.

Meanwhile, I wrote the copy for the launch site and the script for the vision film to introduce the new brand to the market.

Elsewhere our team wrestled with the creative challenge of making every product in the suite work as acronymised program icons. Each one also needed a unique colour gradient reflecting its position in the five-stage journey.

Outcome.

Amazing splash. A hybrid launch event introduced the new brand to more than 2,000 staff and partners where the agency and leadership team told the whole story and explained the brand systems. I'm told that Cyril has since "captured the team's imagination".
Amazing identity. The client pushed us to deliver something accessible yet sophisticated. The bluey-purple palette, combined with bolder, simpler messaging, took a lot to think about but now the people who have to live with the brand can't live without it.
Amazing experience. A project with just about evey major brand challenge involved. Big highs, big lows, but amazing results.